1901 in New Zealand explained

The following lists events that happened during 1901 in New Zealand.

Population

A New Zealand census was held in March 1901. The population was given as 815,862, consisting of 43,112 Māori, 31 Moriori, and 772,719 others.^[1] – an increase in the non-Māori population of 9.86% over the previous census in 1896.^[2]

The figures for the 1901 census revealed that the North Island's population had exceeded the South Island's for the first time since the Otago gold rush of 1861 – the two islands (plus their associated minor offshore islands) had populations of 390,579 and 382,140 respectively. Only 40% of the country's population was based in urban centres, and only two of these centres, Auckland and Dunedin, had populations of over 25,000.

Incumbents

Regal and viceregal

• Head of State – Victoria (until 22 January), succeeded by Edward VII
• Governor – The Earl of Ranfurly GCMG^[3]

Government

The 14th New Zealand Parliament continued. In government was the Liberal Party.

• Speaker of the House – Maurice O'Rorke (Liberal)
• Premier / Prime Minister – Richard Seddon
• Minister of Finance – Richard Seddon

Parliamentary opposition

• Leader of the Opposition – William Russell, (Independent) until 3 July, then vacant.^[4]

Main centre leaders

• Mayor of Auckland – Logan Campbell
• Mayor of Wellington – John Aitken
• Mayor of Christchurch – William Reece then Arthur Rhodes
• Mayor of Dunedin – Robert Chisholm then George Denniston

Events

• 9 January — A Northern Maori by-election is held.
• 28 January — Captain William James Hardham became the first New Zealand-born winner of the Victoria Cross as a result of action in the South African War (Boer War).^[5]
• 2 February — a day of mourning acknowledging the death of Queen Victoria brings the nation to a standstill.
• 24 April
  • A mayoral election is held in Auckland City.
  • A mayoral election is held in Invercargill.
• 25 April — A mayoral election is held in Wellington City.
• 19 June — The 1901 New Zealand Royal Visit Honours are announced.
• 18 July
  • A City of Christchurch by-election is held.
  • A by-election is held in Patea.
• 12 September — The Nurses Registration Act 1901 is passed.
• 16 November — A 6.9 magnitude earthquake occurs in Cheviot
• 19 December — A Caversham by-election is held.
• Union of the Synod of Otago and Southland with the Northern Presbyterian Church to form the Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand.
• A second visit to New Zealand by members of the Royal Family: the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall (later to become George V and Queen Mary).
• The New Zealand red ensign became the official flag for merchant vessels.^[6]
• Founding of the New Zealand Socialist Party.
• New Zealand rejects the proposal to become a state in the Commonwealth of Australia
• Richard Seddon adopts the term Prime Minister rather than Premier.

Arts and literature

See 1901 in art, 1901 in literature

Music

See: 1901 in music

Sport

Chess

National Champion: D. Forsyth of Dunedin.^[7]

Golf

The 9th National Amateur Championships were held in Auckland^[8]

• Men: Arthur Duncan (Wellington) – 3rd title
• Women: E.S. Gillies

Horse racing

Harness racing

• Auckland Trotting Cup: Thorndean^[9]

Rugby

• The Earl of Ranfurly announced his intention to present a cup to the NZRFU, without stipulating what form of competition it should be awarded for.
• A New Zealand representative team won both test matches against a touring team from New South Wales.

Soccer

Provincial league champions:^[10]

• Auckland: Grafton AFC (Auckland)
• Otago: Roslyn Dunedin
• Wellington: Wellington Swifts

Births

• 7 February: Arnold Nordmeyer, politician.
• 26 February: Leslie Munro, diplomat.
• 25 March: Raymond Firth, ethnologist.
• 10 April: Robert Aitken, physician and university administrator.
• 17 May: Robert Macfarlane, politician.
• 19 May: William Stevenson, industrialist and philanthropist.
• 13 June: John Cawte Beaglehole, historian and biographer.
• 15 June: Dove-Myer Robinson, long-serving mayor of Auckland.
• 5 July: Len Lye, sculptor, filmmaker, writer.
• 24 December: Nola Luxford, silent film actress.^[11]

Deaths

• 14 February: Edward Stafford. politician and 3rd Premier of New Zealand.
• 17 April Loughlin O'Brien, politician.
• 15 July: Frederic Carrington, surveyor and politician.^[12]
• 6 August (in Scotland): John McKenzie, politician
• 2 September:
  • Charles Brown, politician
  • Benjamin Crisp, carrier and temperance reformer
• 27 September: Matthew Holmes, politician
• 5 December Francis Rich, politician and farmer.

See also

• List of years in New Zealand
• Timeline of New Zealand history
• History of New Zealand
• Military history of New Zealand
• Timeline of the New Zealand environment
• Timeline of New Zealand's links with Antarctica

Notes and References

1. Web site: Results of a Census of the Colony of New Zealand, Taken for the Night of the 31st March, 1901. 1 October 1902. Table 1.
2. The non-Māori population was 703,360 in the 1896 census.Web site: Census of New Zealand, April, 1896. Table 1.
3. Statistics New Zealand: New Zealand Official Yearbook, 1990. ISSN 0078-0170 page 52
4. Web site: Elections NZ – Leaders of the Opposition. 6 April 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20081017200326/http://www1.elections.org.nz/democracy/leaders-opposition.html. 17 October 2008. dead.
5. http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/timeline&new_date=28/01 NZhistory.net
6. http://flagspot.net/flags/nz_ens.html#cen New Zealand Ensigns
7. http://www.poisonpawn.co.nz/nzcftitles.htm List of New Zealand Chess Champions
8. Web site: Men's Golf – National Champions. An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand. McLintock. A. H.. Te Ara – The Encyclopedia of New Zealand. 1966. 13 February 2009.
9. http://www.hrnz.co.nz/data/major_races/major_race2.htm Auckland Trotting cup at hrnz.co.nz
10. Web site: New Zealand: List of champions. Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. 1999.
11. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0527701/ IMDB
12. http://www.dnzb.govt.nz/dnzb/default.asp?Find_Quick.asp?PersonEssay=1C7 F.A. Carrington at DNZB